Two of the biggest fights available for the UFC to stage in 2012 are Chael Sonnen challenging Anderson Silva for the middleweight title and Rashad Evans facing Jon Jones for the light heavyweight belt.

Neither bout is guaranteed to happen. The potential challengers, Evans and Sonnen, must first get through significant tests at UFC on FOX 2 on Jan. 28, at the United Center in Chicago.

“Unfortunately (Evans) keeps getting hurt once he gets up for that title shot,” Davis said at a press conference to promote the event last month. “It’s my turn to spoil his fun and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“I am going to knock the teeth out of that snot-nosed Brit who calls (himself) a Count,” Sonnen said of Bisping in a release to announce the new fight.

Bisping fired back by alluding to Sonnen’s past legal troubles, which included a mortgage fraud conviction in his home state of Oregon.

“He’s been kicked out of politics, he’s been kicked out of the real estate business,” Bisping said, “and I’m going to kick him out of the middleweight division.”

Bisping was originally supposed to meet Demian Maia in the third main card fight at UFC on FOX 2. Rising prospect Chris Weidman (7-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) will fill in to fight Maia (15-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) on less than two weeks’ notice.

“I was always a good crammer in school,” Weidman tweeted Tuesday. “I think I can make it work for fights too.”

Check below for a list of the preliminary bouts slated for the Chicago card.

Lightweight Bout: Evan Dunham (12-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) vs. Nik Lentz (21-4 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC)The Las Vegas-based Dunham will have to fight off Lentz’s wrestling to continue his run back to the top of the 155-pound division.

Heavyweight Bout: Mike Russow (14-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) vs. Jon Olav Einemo (7-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC)Russow hasn’t lost a fight in five years, while Einemo, who came out of retirement last July, hasn’t won one in six years.

Conor McGregor became more than UFC featherweight champion with his 13-second knockout victory over Jose Aldo. He became the UFC. McGregor transcended into a level above any other fighter by living up to every promise about what he’d do to the only previous 145-pound champion in UFC history. And he set a slew of records doing it, including creating a live gate of $10.1 million at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta later said McGregor would become the first man to make more than $100 million in the octagon. The new era didn’t stop with McGregor. Luke Rockhold unseated previously undefeated Chris Weidman in the main event to become the seventh middleweight champion in UFC history.